For a reward, crowds name new products

Marketing & Advertising Published on 7 June 2008 in Marketing & Advertising

We wrote about Kluster back in February, and just a few months later the crowdsourcing platform was used to create community-driven news site Knewsroom. Hard on the heels of that launch now comes NameThis, which just entered beta.

Kluster-powered NameThis is designed to provide a quick and painless way for innovators to find a market-ready name for their company, product or service. Those with a thing in need of a name begin by posting a request for help and paying USD 99. Members of the community then have 48 hours to suggest names and/or invest points in their favourites. At the end of the 48 hours, NameThis's system "does some fancy math" and picks three winners. Of the fee paid by the thing's owner, USD 80 is distributed to those who contributed to the winners: USD 40 goes to the person who picked the first-place name, while USD 10 is shared amongst the influencers on that name; USD 16 goes to the second-place namer, while USD 4 is shared among the influencers on that one; and USD 8 goes to the individual who picked the third-place name, with USD 2 shared among influencers.

From creating the news to naming a product, is there anything the crowds can't do better? We'll keep you posted. In the meantime, one to try out! (Related: Crowdsourcing product improvements.)

Website: www.namethis.com
Contact: team@kluster.com

Comments on this idea:

I have been on the news site, the first Kluster project for a while. I have picked good and bad news stories and wrote one, which was the top of the design section.

Now, my desire to continue this is limited. Why? It takes a lot of time for nothing rewards, but maybe this is just me.

I think it's a great concept, but right now, it is just that.

I went to NameThis and register myself. I contributed creating some names but I don`t really understand when they say that the name will be chosen thanks to a "confidential and mathematical algorithm". I don`t understand why the companies who launched the contest can choose..I think it`s a nice idea but have some doubts about how it works ...let`s see if I will be rewarded!

I love the simplicity of this idea and the profit share component. One criticism: why does an algorithm pick the top three and not the person who listed the brief? After all, this is a marketing exercise. The client is always right. At least until the market sorts them out...

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